The Gifts of Hope
by DragonFang2011
Summary: How did Ryuga and Hikaru meet?


**DISCLAIMER:**

I don't own Beyblade: Metal Fight.

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><p>This story's supposed to be a memory, when Ryuga and Hikaru met.<p>

The story is based on an idea from the Hunger Games

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><p>I peered at the store from behind the mailbox. <em>It's not going to be easy<em>. I was worried that the big guy inside might catch me.

I clenched my fists. St_ealing is wrong._

_But it is necessary_. I would never resort to thievery if there was any other option.

Unfortunately, at the moment, there was no other option. I was starving.

_I have to do this. For my brother._

I didn't run away from the orphanage just to die from hunger.

I reached out for the door handle...

"Stealing is wrong." A female voice echoed my thoughts.

An instinct inside me told me to run away. But I stayed put.

"I'm not stealing," I lied.

"Yes, you are," she said, her dark purple eyes shining, as if she was going to cry. "I've seen you before, on the streets. You have nothing to eat, don't you?" Her eyes were enough to tell me that she pitied my situation. I didn't need pity; it wasn't gonna keep me alive.

_But she's right. I do have nothing to eat._

I sent her a cruel glance from under the brim of my baseball cap that covered my white and red hair. "What's it to you?"

"I don't want you to steal from my daddy's shop," she murmured, just loud enough for me to hear.

_So the shop belongs to her father._

"How else could I get something to eat?" I snapped at her.

"I... I could give you food," she said. A red tinge creeped across her face. I stared at her, confused, but relieved.

"Why would you do that?" I asked.

If possible, the girl turned redder. "Because I hate seeing people suffer."

On cue, my stomach growled.

She grinned. "Wait here." And she skipped into the shop.

_Should I trust her?_ I asked myself.

I had no other choice. It was either the girl or her temperamental father.

But why did she even agree to help? Besides seeing other people suffer? I had been ready to steal from her father; why the heck would she even bother to talk to me? I lived on the streets; I probably wasn't even worth adopting.

A few minutes passed, and I began to wonder if she was going to show up at all.

Finally, she walked out, a large plastic bag in her hands. She gave it to me. It was warm to the touch, radiating the fragrant smell of good, cooked food, including meat. My mouth watered in anticipation to dig in greedily.

"Thank you," I said gratefully. For the first time that day, I smiled.

"You're welcome." She smiled back.

I dipped my head to her and ran away.

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><p>The day after that, I opened the gate to the girl's backyard.<p>

Call me a stalker; I'm used to it.

I had to see her; she saved my life, and my brother's. Ever since she gave me the food, I couldn't get her out of my mind.

She gave me hope; hope that I was going to survive.

She was drawing something on the picnic table, and appeared to be alone.

"H-Hello?" I called.

She looked up, and her eyes seemed to brighten at the sight of me. "Hi!" she yelled. She jumped down from her seat and dashed towards me, her mouth curving into a playful smile. "How was the food? Was it enough?"

I nodded. Then, I stuffed my hand into my jeans pocket and rummaged through it, looking for something. "I know this probably won't mean much to you, but..." I handed her a yellow and black necklace, which had belonged to my mother. "I just wanted to say thanks, again."

The girl looked as if she'd won the lottery, which was confusing. It was just a ribbon.

She grinned. "THANK YOU _SO_ MUCH!" She blushed and accepted it with trembling fingers, then tied it around her neck. "Thank you so much," she repeated, stroking the silken fabric. "Anytime you need anything, you know where I am."

"Ditto. I always hang around the park across the street; got that?" I gestured to the woody area in front of the house, where Ryuto was probably playing with the other kids from the streets, the ones who have been recklessly cast aside by parents.

My father was dead. My mother was so grief-stricken about his death that she went insane. So, Ryuto was the only family I had left.

"Mm-hm!"

I turned around to walk away, but the girl grabbed my hand. I felt my face heat up.

"Why don't you stay for a while?" she asked.

"Okay?" I was perplexed.

She took off the red bracelet she was wearing on her wrist and fastened it around my own. "Huh?"

"Now _you_ have something from _me_. We're friends now, right?"

I grinned. "Yeah. Friends."

"Battle with me!" She took out a purple Beyblade. "Meet my Storm Aquario."

"Storm Aries," I said, showing her my own black Bey.

"There aren't a lot of girls who Beyblade," she explained. "And the boys think that I shouldn't be Beyblading 'cause I'm a girl."

I was somewhat annoyed at the other bladers. "Beyblading's for everyone!" I protested.

"That's what I keep telling them!" She led me to the small Bey-dish at the corner of her backyard. "By the way, my name's Hikaru."

"I'm Ryuga."

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><p>So this was when they met.<p>

What do you think?


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